Massachusetts' Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF) has announced that Jeremy O. Harris will serve as inaugural creative director of WTF's Creative Collective, a new artistic leadership model created to ensure boundary-breaking and diverse programming.
Harris will oversee creative direction of the festival, and facilitate collaborations with multidisciplinary artists. The Creative Collective will feature a rotating annual cohort of directors that will inform the curation and programming of each season in collaboration with Harris. Additional members will be announced later this year.
Harris made his Broadway playwriting and producing debut with Slave Play, which ran September 10, 2019-January 19, 2020, and for a second engagement November 23, 2021 to January 23, 2022. The production received 12 Tony nominations, including Best Play. Harris also co-produced Broadway's Ain't No Mo', and The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. Slave Play is set for a West End premiere this summer.
“I’ve made it no secret that my idea of being a theatre maker is a holistic
one and my passion to write plays is only matched by my passion to see the best ones
being conceived," Harris said in a statement. "Nikos Psacharopoulos changed the American theatre by making
Williamstown not only the equivalent of a teaching hospital for an entire generation of
stars, but by also creating a home on the American summer stock stage for international
playwrights. It’s my goal to continue this tradition by galvanizing a new generation of
nascent talents across disciplines and challenging what theatre is by bringing artists
from around the world together for a summer festival that feels more like a happening.
What does a theatre festival that has Jaboukie Young-White, Milo Rau, a set by Billie
Eilish & Steve Lacy and a new show with Ayo Edebiri and Paul Mescal look like? I’m not
sure but I’m excited to go to my little black book and find out.”
READ: Williamstown Theatre Festival Unveils New Leadership Model
Beginning in 2025, WTF will incorporate a range of theatrical experiences, from traditional shows to immersive productions and more. The company will also develop year-round programming, including digital and pop-up events for audience engagement leading up to the festival.
As previously reported, the 2024 summer season will include Sara Porkalob's Dragon Mama, Part II of the Dragon Cycle, Rachel Bloom's Death, Let Me Do My Show, David Ives' Pamela Palmer, and the WTF IS NEXT weekend of activities.
Visit WTFestival.org.
